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You always treat me like a fool/ You kick me when I’m down, that’s you’re rule…
Also known as: Don’t Know Why I Love You Written by: Wonder/Riser/Hunter/Hardaway Recorded: Olympic Sound Studios, London, England, June 29-30, July 3 1969 *Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012
Mick Jagger: vocals Keith Richards: rhythm guitar, backing vocals Mick Taylor: rhythm and lead guitar Bill Wyman: bass Charlie Watts: drums Guest musicians: Ian Stewart (piano), Unidentified musicians (brasses)
The Rolling Stones were often labeled “double trouble” but their late ’60s work revealed a band trading rock bravado for a bruised vulnerability. By covering Stevie Wonder’s I Don’t Know Why they moved away from simple romance into something raw and unresolved. This track captures the Stones in a state of transition, documenting emotional ground they hadn’t yet fully mapped.
Originally a soulful 1968 blueprint by Stevie Wonder, the song eventually surfaced on the Stones’ 1975 compilation Metamorphosis. While early critics dismissed the group as a “disease” challenging “good taste”, this performance proves their sophisticated engagement with soul. It shows the band evolving from the “smallness” of the Crawdaddy club into a more complex, mature sound.
Tragically, this recording is forever tethered to Brian Jones’ death, which occurred as the sessions unfolded. It signals the end of an era and the shift toward Mick Taylor’s great guitar style. Amidst “stormy openings” and the chaos of fame, this song remains a quiet memorial to a band forever changed.
More about The Rolling Stones‘ Take on I Don’t Know Why
*By Marcelo Sonaglioni
A song caught between love and rupture
“You always treat me like a fool, you kick me when I’m down, that’s your rule, I don’t know why I love you…” Those opening lines immediately signal that I Don’t Know Why sits far from tender romance. With this recording, the Rolling Stones drift away from simple love songs and into something bruised and unresolved. Their version later surfaces on Metamorphosis, the 1975 compilation that gathers rarities and unreleased tracks, quietly documenting a period of uncertainty and transition. Rather than sounding polished or complete, the song feels exposed, as if the band is testing emotional ground they haven’t fully mapped yet. That tension is part of its power. I Don’t Know Whycaptures the Stones at a moment when vulnerability outweighs swagger, revealing how discomfort, doubt, and longing begin to reshape their creative direction.
Stevie Wonder’s original emotional blueprint
At just 18 years old Stevie Wonder deliversI Don’t Know Why with an intensity that feels far older than his years. Originally released on his 1968 album For Once in My Life, the song channels the confusion and hurt of loving someone who repeatedly causes pain. Wonder’s performance is deeply soulful, balancing restraint with raw feeling, and it immediately establishes the song’s emotional gravity. Behind the scenes, the track is shaped with help from his mother, Lula Mae Hardaway, alongside Motown collaborators Don Hunter and Paul Riser, grounding it in the label’s sophisticated songwriting tradition. When the single appears in February 1969, paired with My Cherie Amour as the B-side, it quietly showcases Wonder’s growing maturity as both a vocalist and storyteller, even before its unexpected chart journey begins to unfold.
A single overshadowed, a song that endures
Although I Don’t Know Why arrives as the A-side, its fate shifts quickly. By June 1969, radio DJs begin favoring My Cherie Amour, flipping the single’s momentum almost overnight. That song goes on to become one of Stevie Wonder’s most beloved and recognizable hits, while I Don’t Know Why slips into relative obscurity. Yet its lower profile doesn’t diminish its impact. The track remains a striking example of Wonder’s ability to express emotional vulnerability with clarity and depth. Its honesty continues to resonate precisely because it never aims for grandeur or resolution. Instead, it lingers in emotional uncertainty, standing as a reminder that some of Wonder’s most compelling work lies not in chart success, but in the quiet intensity of songs that refuse easy answers.
The Rolling Stones embrace soul on their own terms
When the Rolling Stones approach I Don’t Know Why they step decisively into new territory. That means taking on a Stevie Wonder composition signals their growing engagement with soul music during the late 1960s, a genre that increasingly shapes their evolving sound. Recorded roughly seven months after Wonder’s original release, their version doesn’t attempt to outshine or radically reinvent the song. Instead, the Stones lean into its emotional core, preserving its sense of hurt while filtering it through their own musical language. The result is heartfelt rather than flashy, marked by restraint and empathy. This performance demonstrates how the band can honor the spirit of soul music without losing their identity, quietly proving that emotional subtlety can be just as powerful as rock bravado.
Loss, transition, and a song forever changed
The recording ofI Don’t Know Why becomes inseparable from tragedy. As the Stones are working on the track, devastating news arrives: Brian Jones, their founding member, has drowned in his swimming pool. The shock of his death hangs heavily over the session, casting a long shadow across the music. While the song is not written about Jones, the timing permanently links it to the end of an era. In hindsight, the track feels weighted with unspoken grief, marking a turning point in the band’s story. It stands as a quiet memorial within their catalog, capturing the Stones in a moment of emotional fracture as they move forward, changed, into the uncertain future ahead.
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